3. Language
Words
Repetition
Context
Authorship
God permitted His Word to be persecuted for some time in the past
(Revelation 11). However, in the End Time–our time–, God has permitted the
Bible to be read by 95% of the Earth’s population.
Bible Societies have been essential for the translation and distribution of the
Scriptures.
We can read the Bible in our mother
tongue, but we should understand some
basic concepts about its original language
and context, so we can understand its
message better.
4. “And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a
voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew
language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It
is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” (Acts 26:14)
Why did God
want the
Bible to be
written?
To testify of His work through history.
To make His Salvation Plan known.
To teach us how to act with justice.
God chose a people and told them the truth in
their language, Hebrew.
The books that were written from the exile in
Babylon include some sections in Aramaic. It
was the “universal” language of that time.
The New Testament was written in “common”
Greek, which everybody could understand at
that time.
Today, there are translations of the Bible that
allow us to understand it, so we can put its
principles into practice.
5. “Because Your loving kindness is better than
life, my lips shall praise You.” (Psalm 63:3)
As in any other language, there are words in Hebrew and Greek that have
several meanings or transmit diverse concepts. For example:
Chesed. Grace, goodness, kindness, mercy, piety,
favor, righteousness, graciousness, compassion.
Shalom. Peace between two parties, inner peace,
serenity, wholeness, completeness, well-being.
There are also different words that
are translated by only one word in
our language. For example,
“remnant” (she’ār, pālat, mālat,
yāthar, sārid and ‘aharît).
The richness of the language enables
us to better understand the message
God has sent through the Bible.
6. REPETITION
“So God created man in His own image; in
the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
We may emphasize an idea by using exclamation
points, boldface, italics, or underlining or
highlighting it. However, that was not possible in
biblical Hebrew.
The Bible authors used
other ways to emphasize
ideas. One of these was to
repeat a word, like
“created” or “holy”. When
authors wanted to highlight
a characteristic of God, they
repeated the same word
three times (Gn. 1:27;
Is. 6:3; Jer. 7:4).
For example, Daniel emphasized how Nebuchadnezzar challenged God by repeating
ten times that he built and statue (Daniel 3:1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 7, 12, 14, 18).
7. In addition to understanding the meaning of the
original words, we should also understand how
they’re used in their literary and historical context.
A good example is the Hebrew word “adam”, which
can be translated both as Adam’s name (Genesis 5:3;
cf. 2:23) and as humanity (Genesis 5:2; cf. 1:27).
The context is essential to correctly
interpret the message in each verse.
According to the context of Romans
5:14, how should we interpret the
word “Adam” in this case?
8. “The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw
concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of
Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”
(Amos 1:1)
We can better understand the message of the
Bible if we know details and background about
who wrote each book and the author’s writing
style.
We know who wrote many of the books of the
Bible, and even the date when it was written
(Amos is a good example). However, this
information is only available through the Judeo-
Christian tradition in other cases.
In some cases, the historical context is especially
important. For example, we may not understand
the book of Exodus completely if we have not
read Genesis first.
In addition, the Bible contains poetic, historical,
prophetic, and epistolary books. Each style should
be read and interpreted in a different way.
SEVERAL AUTHORS
SEVERAL AGES
SEVERAL STYLES
9. “Written in different ages, by men who
differed widely in rank and occupation, and in
mental and spiritual endowments, the books
of the Bible present a wide contrast in style, as
well as a diversity in the nature of the subjects
unfolded. Different forms of expression are
employed by different writers; often the same
truth is more strikingly presented by one than
by another.
[...] a different aspect of the truth in each,
but a perfect harmony through all. And the
truths thus revealed unite to form a perfect
whole, adapted to meet the wants of men in all
the circumstances and experiences of life.”
E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, Introduction, p. vi)
10. HOW TO
INTERPRET
THE BIBLE
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